Firing pin problem?

[fabsroman]

Took the 10/22 to the range today to try out the new Green Mountain barrel and ended up getting frustrated and disgusted. The firing pin barely struck the rims, and it was very rare for me to have two shots fired in a row. For the most part, I was firing one round out of 5 cycles. I would pull the trigger, and if it didn't go pop, I would pull the bolt back and try again. I hate this range because I have to shoot their ammo and never know what the deal is. At first, I was using some Blazer crapola, but after several unfired rounds, where I could see the primer rim being dented, I switched to CCI standard velocity rounds. I think that was even worse.

Could it be that I put the barrel on wrong? I only had to tighten two allen head screws and I tightened them down pretty good. What else could it be? The gun sits in the safe a lot with the bolt open, but would this affect the firing pin spring? The gun is about 7 years old and it has hardly been shot. Should I dry fire it before putting it back?

What should I do to try and fix this problem? I was thinking about ordering a new CNC machined bolt and firing pin spring from Volquartsen, but I really do not want to spend $200 for this. However, would installing a new bolt and firing pin on the gun fix the problem? Is there anything else I can do that would be cheaper and effective?

[BILLY D.]

fabs

sounds like the barrel isn't sitting back in the action far enough, otherwise known as headspace. first insure the barrel is seated where it's supposed to be. i'd also check the bolt for cleanliness. they have a habit of getting dirty in a hurry, and all kinds of strange things happen. take the trigger guard out and visually check the bolt. i always clean my bolt with brake clean, it gets all the crud out and removes the powder residue. then i re- lube it.

if that don't fix the problem i'd take it to a smith and have him look it over.

you may have to get back with the distributor or green mountain and scorch their shorts.

my 10-22 shoots better than i do.

good luck.

[Tater]

I think I would probably check to make sure the barrel was seated properly. Mine went on pretty easy but it's possible that yours didn't seat right. Beyond that, I couldn't say.

[Rocky Raab]

I agree, Fabs.

You could have a speck of crud between the barrel and the receiver shoulder, or the barrel may not be exactly indexed. If it's rotated just a wee bit out of alignment, the extractor hook may bind in its barrel cut just enough to hold the bolt back a tiny fraction.

Third, its possible that the barrel is cut wrong.

Take ther barrel back out and clean it and the receiver (plus bolt) well. While it's out, measure the extension of the barrel, from the shoulder to the breech, and compare that to the factory barrel. When you re-assemble, make very sure the barrel doesn't get rotated and that the extractor enters its cut cleanly.

[fabsroman]

Thanks guys. I thought it might be an extractor problem while I was at the range, but the light there was so bad that I couldn't really tell. I hate this range and will not be renewing my membership there, but it is the nearest one to me right now so I'll be taking advantage of it for now.

I'll take a look at the gun tonight and see if the bolt is the problem. I am hoping that the screw up is on my part, because that is a lot easier to fix than having to order new parts or contact Green Mountain.

[fabsroman]

Here's an update.

I adjusted the barrel yesterday. Took it off, lined it up by looking through the magazine well and making sure that the bolt fully contacted the barrel. So, the barrel fit wasn't an issue today. I even cleaned the chamber and inside of the receiver really well.

Today, I went to the range and started out with 100 of the CCI High Velocity copper bullet rounds. Had a failure rate of about 20% on those and I was fairly happy with that, even though I shouldn't be. Then, after shooting those, I tried the same rounds that gave me problems last week, the CCI Standard Velocity lead bullet rounds. The failure rate on those was about 60%. I got so disgusted that I didn't even finish the last 20. Just chucked all the unfired rounds into the trash can.

Could it be the firing pin spring that is causing the problem? If so, I can probably just replace the spring. Probably wouldn't hurt to replace the spring and see what happens.

Now, I am extremely happy with the new Green Mountain barrel. At 25 yards, the maximum range at this indoor range, I was shooting under an inch and I was only using the bipod on a shelf that I had to semi-stand up to shoot at. Kind of an awkward shooting position, but the barrel shoots circles around the crapola Butler Creek carbon fiber bull barrel I had. That thing was shooting 1 foot groups at 50 yards and it was pretty frustrating. I am going to join an outdoor range with a 200 yard range, and I am hoping to get this firing pin problem fixed so that I can try the gun out at 50 yards and not get sick. Plus, at the outdoor range, I get to use my own ammo, so I can start using the Velocitors. The indoor range requires us to use its ammo, and the selection truly sucks.

[Rocky Raab]

Fabs, now that we know it wasn't the barrel, the first thing to do is to order a Volquartsen titanium firing pin. It's a drop-in fit once you have the bolt out, and it not only improves ignition, but speeds the lock time.

I wouldn't be without mine.

[BILLY D.]

fabs

talked to different guys on two different forums, both had the same conclusions. some rugers have issues with cci ammo.

one said the hammer spring might be weak from storing it with the action open.

i was always taught to store in the fired position. action closed and in the uncocked position. just my grandfather!!!

[fabsroman]

Took the entire action apart tonight. Took the bolt out of the gun and might have found the problem. I used bluye Loctite on the scope base screws and it appears that some of it leaked down onto the bolt, right smack in the middle where the firing pin lays. So, I soaked the bolt and firing pin in some crud cutting formula that I use on car parts and the firing pin action sounds louder now when I pull the trigger on a dry fire. So, I am hoping that was the problem. If not, I'll be buying a new hammer spring and a new firing pin from Volquartsen.

I checked the hammer spring strength of the Volquartsen TG2000 against the stock hammer spring strength by trying to pull the hammers back by hand with both of them out of the gun. The stock one seems to be a little tougher to pull back, but it has also been stored in the cocked position all these years. Plus, I think the Volquartsen still has enough power to sufficiently dent the primer on those rims.

I'm going to try to get back to the range tomorrow and see what happens. Hopefully, I will only get one or two misfires out of 100, but who knows. I'll post the results if I get out.

[fabsroman]

I'm not going to be able to make it to the range tonight, but probably tomorrow. However, Volquartsen sent me a response to yesterday's e-mail. Here it is:

"If you were not getting light hits before, I would guess that the problem is in the barrel. Too tight of a chamber or too large of a chamfer on the chamber can cause light hits. Does the chamfer look larger on the GM barrel than the Butler Creek barrel?"

My question is, what is the chamfer area of the barrel, and how do I compare its size to the previous barrel?

I am really hoping that I go to the range tomorrow and have absolutely no problems. Then, it will be fun to shoot my .22 again.

[BILLY D.]

FABS

THE CHAMBER BEING CHAMFERED MEANS A SMALL RADIUS OR ANGLE MACHINING TO THE CHAMBER. IT MERELY TAKES OFF THE ROUGH EDGE AND INSURES A SMOOTH INSERTION OF THE AMMO. JUST SEE IF THERE IS A LITTLE WHITE CIRCLE AROUND THE CHAMBER. IT WON'T BE VERY LARGE AND IN TEN THOUSANDS OF AN INCH. FOR ALL ESSENTIAL PURPOSES IT IS A MINI CROWN ON THE CHAMBER END.

[fabsroman]

Okay, that makes sense. Kind of like a counter sink hole for a screw so that it feeds in nicely. The chamfer acts like a funnel for the ammo I take it. I'll check it out once I am done working.

Thanks,

Billy

PS - thanks for the Maryland AR-15 website. I checked it out and I like the info on it. Haven't read the entire thing yet, but read about ranges that don't mind the use of AR's.

[fabsroman]

And the dillemma continues. Took the rifle to the range on Sunday, and it misfired on 40+ out of 100 CCI standard velocity rounds with the lead bullet and it misfired on 17 out of 100 CCI high velocity rounds with the copper plated bullet, but it fired all but 4 of those 17 misfired rounds on the second try.

I inspected all of the misfired rounds, and it looked as though a mark was being made on the bullet of each round. The mark almost looked like there was some type of head spacing problem (i.e., the bullet was being jammed into the lands/rifling).

Today, I scrubbed out the barrel with a copper brush. That is about the only thing I cannot remember doing to the barrel before putting it on, but I seriously doubt I would have put a new barrel on the gun without cleaning it. I also cycled a couple of CCI Velocitors through the gun and looked at the bolt through the magazine well. It looked like everything was fine. I also inspected the bullets after they were extracted, and there was no mark on them. Even made sure to cycle a couple through the clip to see if the clip was making the mark on the bullets, but there were no marks on these Velocitors.

This thing really has me baffled. I am going to give it one more try at the range this weekend. I was so frustrated that I almost took it out back and fired off a couple of Velocitors to see if the problem was solved, but I decided that it wasn't worth going to jail over.

If this gun doesn't work this weekend, I might out the old barrel in the gun and see how it works. I know it shoots like crap, but I just want to see if the gun cycles reliably with the old barrel. If it does, I'll be contacting Green Mountain.

[BILLY D.]

fabs

if i were you i would multi task and take the old barrel along on the range trip. if the new barrel keeps malfunctioning, put the old barrel back on and see what happens.

i checked with those in the know and the firing pin is supposed to protrude .035 to .040 on the recess that the rim sits in. use an "EMPTY" case and place it in the recess to see if it is setting there the way it's supposed to and is free of dirt.

also make sure the feed ramp of your mags is clean and gunk free. they need to feed smooth. if the cartridge skids along the surface it can cause misfeeds and the cartridge might not enter the chamber straight. this may explain the scuffing on your cartridges that you mentioned.

did you strip the bolt and remove the firing pin? a 1/16 pin punch will knock out the pin that retains it in the bolt and then you can remove the pin and spring for inspection.

good luck.

[fabsroman]

Billy,

The firing pin does not protrude at all. I would say that it sits flush with the bolt face.

Following your advice, I took the firing pin out of the bolt, and found that it had a ton of dried up loctite on both sides of it. That stuff would not just wipe off, so I had to scrape it off with a screwdriver. Next, I used a Dremel to polish both sides of the firing pin and the firing pin channel in the bolt. I oiled it all up before putting the firing pin back in the bolt. Since I had the bolt out again, I decided to clean out the entire action again. The last time this gun has been this clean is when I bought it.

The next snafu was the trigger mechanism. Seems as though the safety got spun around such that it would no longer let me pull the trigger. It took me about an hour to take the trigger mechanism apart, fix the safety, and put everything back together. My index finger on my left hand is still numb from holding down the sear spring while trying to put the sear and trigger back into the trigger assembly.

At this point, I feel as though I can disassemble and assemble a 10/22 while blindfolded.